Scandinavian recipes made in America

Rhubarb Granita (Rabarberslush)

Rhubarb Granita – what a brilliant idea! I came across this recipe in a Danish magazine and being a big rhubarb fan and all, I immediately ran to the store to get rhubarb. And I was in luck, because fresh firm rhubarb (not limp please) are not that easy to find around here for some odd reason. So needless to say I was very pleased with my find. Thank you Harris Teeter.

The Rhubarb Granita turned out even better than I had imagined and I was really impressed with it. The combination of rhubarb and vanilla sugar makes for an amazing aroma when cooking it. It will perfume your entire house. Now, I did use the European style vanilla sugar but if you don’t have that you can use 1/2 of a vanilla bean instead. Or you can easily make your own vanilla sugar by tossing some empty vanilla pods into some sugar and store in a closed container and you’ll have flavorful and fragrant vanilla sugar in no time.

The Granita is super easy to make and take a look at that beautiful, brilliant, pink color, not to mention how delicious it taste. Oh and if you decide to enjoy it as a slushy drink, it taste fantastic with a splash of Tequila 🙂 Perfect for these hot summer days.

Ingredients:

2 medium Rhubarb (250 g)

2 cups water (5 dl)

1/2 cup + 3 tbsp sugar (125 g)

1 tsp vanilla sugar or seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean

a splash of Tequila – optional

Directions:

Clean and cut rhubarb into 1 inch pieces. Drop into cooking pot and add water, sugar and vanilla sugar. If using the seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean instead of vanilla sugar, toss in the empty vanilla pod into the pot while cooking for extra flavor. Cover with a lid and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Place a sieve over a small bowl and pour cooked rhubarb into the sieve and allow to drip off. Set aside Rhubarb liquid and let cool. After the liquid has cooled off, you can either poor it into a shallow dish, place in freezer for 3-4 hours and break up semi-frozen liquid with a fork every hour. Or if you have an ice cream maker, you can freeze the liquid in there according to the manufactures instructions. It took about 25-30 minutes in my ice cream maker. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container. Note – if serving as a slushy drink, a splash of Tequila works really well with the Rhubarb. Enjoy.